What is an Executor, and What are Their Responsibilities?

An executor is the person named in a Will to manage and distribute the deceased’s estate after their death. Being named as executor is a significant responsibility, but it does not require any legal qualifications. Thousands of executors apply for probate themselves every year.

What does an executor do?

Register the death and secure assets

Take steps to secure any property or valuables, cancel ongoing payments, and begin notifying relevant organisations.

Locate and validate the Will

Find the original Will and submit it to the Probate Registry as part of the probate application.

Value the estate

Contact every bank, investment provider, pension administrator, and insurer to gather date-of-death values. Have property professionally valued. Identify all debts.

Complete the IHT400

For most deaths from 1 January 2022, the IHT400 must be submitted to HMRC before probate can proceed. YouCanDoProbate completes this automatically from your answers.

Apply for the Grant of Probate

Submit form PA1P to the Probate Registry with the original Will, death certificate, and £526 application fee.

Collect assets, pay debts, and distribute

Once the Grant is received, access accounts, sell or transfer property, pay all debts and taxes, and distribute the estate to beneficiaries in accordance with the Will.

Do you have to act as executor?

No. You can formally renounce the executorship before any application is made. If there are other named executors, they can act instead. You can also reserve your power to join the application later without formally renouncing.